Ynet News (English), on Targeting, 27 October 2026

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‘Show courage, sit with Ra'am’: Israel's Democrats push to replace Netanyahu

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While Yachad party leader Naftali Bennett and Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman remained silent in the hour following the release of Tuesday evening's exit polls, senior Democrats lawmaker Naama Lazimi said at the party's election headquarters: "From the very beginning, we said we need to sit with Ra'am." "It's up to us to show political courage and leadership. The public has spoken, 70 to 50," she said. "The Israeli public has fired Netanyahu.

It has fired the government of abandonment, draft evasion and plunder. Now it's up to us to be brave and do everything we can to bring this country healing, stability and calm." Even before Election Day, the Democrats were the only party in the bloc seeking to replace Netanyahu to , particularly Mansour Abbas's Islamist Ra'am party. Earlier Tuesday evening, Democrats chairman Yair Golan responded to the exit polls in a post on X, saying: "The public has spoken.

It has fired the Netanyahu government." "We have been given a historic opportunity to establish a genuine government of change in Israel, and we have no intention of giving it up," Golan wrote. "We represent an enormous segment of the public that has fought in the streets for four years, joined the party and gone out to persuade voters. We will do everything to ensure that such a government is formed." He added: "We are ready to work with all our partners, bridge the differences and take responsibility.

The public has spoken. Now it's our turn to do the work." At the party's election headquarters, lawmaker Efrat Rayten told ynet: "Netanyahu's government has collapsed. Netanyahu's bloc has fallen to a low of 50 seats and has lost its majority in Israel." "The State of Israel has shown him a red card and told him: You're going home. As far as we're concerned, that's absolutely clear," she said. Rayten added: "As early as tomorrow, we need to get to work, take the reins in the Knesset and examine how to establish a new government that will safeguard Israel's security."

According to most exit polls, in the 120-member Knesset, with Ra'am projected to win seven seats in each poll. It therefore remains unclear whether even a partnership with Mansour Abbas's party would give the bloc seeking to replace Netanyahu the 61 seats needed for a parliamentary majority in the 26th Knesset.

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What we found (1)

Ynet reports the Democrats' call to govern with Ra'am after the exit polls, and quotes its lawmakers fairly. In its own voice it twice calls the parties of Palestinian citizens of Israel only "Arab parties" and never uses the word Palestinian, so a reader is not told who these voters and parties are.

  1. Erases a people's national identity

    Serious

    “publicly support forming a government with Arab parties”

    Why this matters
    In its own voice Ynet calls the parties a Netanyahu-replacing coalition would need "Arab parties", an ethnic label alone.
    The impression it gives
    A reader takes these parties and their voters to be an Arab minority group inside Israel, with no national identity of their own.
    The context
    Most Arab citizens of Israel describe themselves as Palestinian. In Smooha's 2019 survey 61.9% chose a self-description containing Palestinian. The article never uses the word Palestinian anywhere, so it never tells the reader who these citizens are.

    How we know

    • On the recordIn Sammy Smooha's April-June 2019 survey of 718 adult Arab citizens of Israel, including Druze and Bedouin, 61.9% chose a self-description containing Palestinian. This is historical survey evidence, not a 2026 percentage or proof of any individual's identity. Arab and Palestinian identities can coexist.newscord.org (opens in a new tab)
    • Our analysis“61.9% chose a description of themselves that included Palestinian”Palestinian citizens of Israel voted in record numbers
    • Checked against the whole articleIt never uses the words “Palestinian”.

    Show it in the article

    “Arab parties are projected to secure an impressive 17 to 18 seats”

    Why this matters
    Ynet repeats "Arab parties" when it reports the result itself, the core fact of this election story.
    The impression it gives
    The 17 to 18 seat result reads as a win for an ethnic bloc, cut off from the Palestinian people these citizens belong to.
    The context
    The seats belong to parties of Palestinian citizens of Israel. Survey evidence shows a majority of these citizens identify as Palestinian, and the article offers that identity nowhere.

    How we know

    • On the recordIn Sammy Smooha's April-June 2019 survey of 718 adult Arab citizens of Israel, including Druze and Bedouin, 61.9% chose a self-description containing Palestinian. This is historical survey evidence, not a 2026 percentage or proof of any individual's identity. Arab and Palestinian identities can coexist.newscord.org (opens in a new tab)
    • Our analysis“In Sammy Smooha's 2019 survey of 718 adult Arab citizens of Israel”Palestinian citizens of Israel voted in record numbers

    Show it in the article

    Written straight

    Even before Election Day, the Democrats were the only party in the bloc to publicly back a government with parties of Palestinian citizens of Israel, particularly Mansour Abbas's Ra'am. Those parties are projected to win 17 to 18 seats.

How other outlets reported it

Our analysisPalestinian citizens of Israel voted in record numbers

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